CITY HOSPITAL BUILDING MAY 18, 2007

TRENTON COTTON MILLS CLOSING FROM THE BACKYARD OF 107 S. CLAY ST., SPRING 1973. LEFT TO RIGHT: COTTON WAREHOUSE, MILL OFFICE, 1894 "OLD MILL." THE BLACK PIPE ACROSS WEST MAIN AVENUE CARRIED COTTON WASTE FROM THE MILL TO A BALER IN THE WAREHOUSE. (THE COMPRESSOR ON THE BALER MADE A DISTINCTIVE GRATING SOUND THAT COULD BE HEARD ALMOST A MILE AWAY. AS IF A PART OF NATURE, IT WAS ONE OF THOSE COMFORTING SOUNDS THAT WAS NOT REALLY "HEARD" UNTIL IT STOPPED WHEN THE MILL SHUT DOWN IN 1973.) THE ROAD BESIDE THE WAREHOUSE LED FROM WEST MAIN AVENUE TO THE REAR OF THE COCA-COLA PLANT ON WEST FRANKLIN BOULEVARD.

The former banking center of Downtown Gastonia at the intersection of South Marietta Street and Franklin Boulevard, April 7, 1995. The First Union (center) and First Citizens (right) buildings were demolished by order of the Mayor and City Council under the direction of the City Manager to show that they were serious (?) about Downtown redevelopment. (Urban Renewal methods revisited decades after they were proven elsewhere to be utter failures.) A gravel parking lot resulted, which was eventually replaced by another government "legacy," a sparsely-utilized conference center "dead zone." (Photograph by Jim Brown.) 

PEOPLE'S BONDED WAREHOUSE WAS CHARTERED THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 1913 WITH AN AUTHORIZED CAPITAL OF $125,000. PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS WERE ANDREW E. MOORE, D.M. JONES, A.G. MYERS, AND H.M. CLEVELAND. LAND WAS PURCHASED ON EAST FRANKLIN AVENUE FROM THE PIEDMONT AND NORTHERN RAILROAD (P&N) FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A 112 BY 150 FOOT BRICK TWO-STORY BUILDING WITH THREE COMPARTMENTS ON EACH FLOOR. CAPACITY WAS 6,000 BALES OF COTTON. THE DEATH OF THE U.S.TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN THE EARLY 2000s SPELLED DOOM FOR COTTON WAREHOUSES, WHICH FED THE MILLS. THIS AND OTHER PHOTOGRAPHS WERE TAKEN JUNE 9, 2006, JUST BEFORE DEMOLITION (1). LOOKING EAST ON FRANKLIN. (THE SITE IS NOW OCCUPIED BY A COMMUNITY GARDEN.)